Index to Admission RecordsIndiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Childrens' Home 1868-1889Compiled by staff of Indiana State Archives and Ruth
Dorrel.From "The Hoosier
Genealogist", Vol. 36, No. 2, June 1996

"In 1865 Susan Fessell began caring for four children who had be orphaned
by the Civil War at the Military Hospital in Indianapolis. In 1866
Miss Fessell and ten children moved to Knightstown Springs in Rush County,
Indiana. This was the beginning of the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors'
Childrens' Home which was originally called the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors'
Orphans' Home. Several fires have destroyed some records of this
institution. Recently the Indiana State Archives
received applications for admission from 1879 through 1932. The
Archives also has microfilmed the admission book for 1868-1995 and the
discharge book for 1890-1996.

The admission books contain: Name of child, birth date, father's name,
mother's name, father's military history, admission date, guardian or relative,
and misc. remarks. The admission applications contain: Name of child,
name of person making the
application, town, county, and state of child's residence, sex, color,
birth date, fathers, father's military record, mother's maiden name, mother's
present name, names and addresses of siblings, why admission was sought,
and a physician's certificate."